C6 Leaven

Shan Xing could feel the restlessness in her mother's heart. Since her mother didn't want to tell her about what happened on the road after they left the city, she didn't want to continue asking.

Actually, without even thinking about it, one could already imagine, in this era, a young woman with two children walked who knows how many hundreds of miles. Furthermore, it was possible that there would be people chasing after her.

She only wanted to let her mother live a peaceful life for the rest of the time. Shan Xing knew very well that her mother would not be able to live for long. The family's hard work was only to let her live a little longer.

"Mom, don't think about all this nonsense. You're tired after talking for half a day. I'll go make the porridge and cook earlier. When big brother comes back, you'll be able to eat already. Big brother has been tired all day. If you wait for him to cook, it will be too much work."

Shan Xingniang loved her son, but she also cared about her daughter. She felt that no matter which one of them suffered, she would suffer greatly.

"Then be careful, don't get it scalded. Little girl, wherever it is scalded, it will be for the rest of your life. Blame your mother for being useless. Otherwise, there's no need for you and your brother to work so hard."

Shan Xingniang was very worried that her daughter would be burned by the fire or the porridge, but she also felt sorry for her son. After all, her son had been working hard all day, and if she had to cook again, it would be very difficult for her son. His son was only nine years old this year, and the job he was doing was completely relying on his physical strength.

Shan Xing could only make japonica rice porridge, unlike fine rice, which when cooked, would become soft and sticky. No matter how hard the japonica rice was cooked, there would still be some hard stubble on the rice inside, and the taste of the rice would be rough. If it was placed in the modern era, Shan Xing wouldn't be able to eat it in a single bite.

However, there was only a small handful of rice left in this house, which Shan Xing couldn't bear to avoid. She thought to herself, wait for brother to come back and discuss with him about tomorrow's plan to exchange that much rice for japonica rice. At least there would be something to eat.

Shan Xing got the japonica rice out of the pot and looked at the porridge as it turned into a big flower. Shan Xing then got rid of the fire and slowly boiled it with a warm fire. She also chopped up a handful of the vegetable leaves and added some coarse salt into the porridge.

"Mother, I've made you a small bowl of brown sugar water. Drink some to replenish your energy."

This bit of brown sugar was from the time he went to the market with his brother to buy medicine for his mother. When the medicine seller saw that the two siblings were pitiful, he specifically wrapped them up and told them to bring them back for his mother to drink.

"Let's drink, Shan Xing. It's delicious now."

When Shan Xingniang saw her daughter bring the sugar water over, she tried to coax her daughter to drink. She felt that whatever she ate or drank now would be a waste. It would be better to let her daughter eat and drink more.

"I just drank it all. Mom, I just made two bowls of sweet water. If you don't believe me, I'll go outside and show you the bowl. I haven't washed the bowl yet, it's waiting to be washed with this one."

Shan Xingniang didn't believe him, but when she saw the expression on her daughter's face, 'Believe me, believe me!' Seeing that, Shan Xingniang couldn't bear to let her daughter have her way. She could only let her daughter hold the bowl and give her a little drink.

Shan Xing then busied herself with feeding the pigs, watering the vegetables in the backyard, and feeding the pigs wasn't too difficult. Although she was young, as long as she cut a little less each time, she would be able to chop a bunch of pig grass later. This task of watering the plants was a light task for other people, but for Shan Xing, who was only six years old, it was a big problem.

Because she was going to carry the water out of the well, and she didn't say how hard it was to carry the bucket, she just said that it would take her most of the day to turn the bucket over on the water and then fill it up, and even though she was an adult and knew how to do it, she was small and couldn't do it.

However, the more she panicked, the more she could not hide her feelings. When will she grow up? Looking at her arms and legs, she was depressed. How will she be able to make her brother feel relaxed? It seems like she won't be able to do it in a day or two.

"Xing, if you're tired, then take a rest."

When Shan Xingniang heard the sound of the bucket hitting the well wall, she knew that her daughter was troubled by the bucket again. However, other than letting her daughter rest, she couldn't help her at all.

"Mom, I'm fine. I'll be fine soon."

Now that she had finally put down the bucket, she couldn't give up and didn't dare to scoop up too much water. She couldn't move the bucket, so she adjusted its direction and used all her strength to finally bring up the water.

She couldn't finish her calculations just yet. She couldn't even go to the backyard, so she had to use a small basin to scoop up the water. She carried it to the back garden and poured it into the vegetable garden.

When she was done, Shan Xing ran back to the kitchenette and stood on the footstool. She pushed the lid of the wooden pot to the side and stirred the porridge in the pot with a large spoon. When she saw that it was almost done, she put the lid back on and looked at the fire under the stove.

There was no need for the fire to go out. Shan Xing had been busy all day, waiting for her brother to come back for dinner and wash the clothes she had exchanged from him. That was the last task she had to complete today.

"Mom, Shan Xing, I'm back."

Look, the time really is perfect. Shan Xing changed out of her wet clothes and just entered the room to talk with her mother when her brother came back from work.

"We're back, bro. Hurry up and wash your hands, we're going to eat."

Shan Xing came out from the house and walked to the well. She brought the water that was warm for her brother on the well and let him wash his hands.

Seeing that her brother had finished washing his face, Shan Xing was about to carry out the water to pour. The mountain forest rushed over and poured the water out first. Her little sister was too young, and the way she swayed with the water really worried Shan Xing.

"In the future, when big brother is home, you don't need to do all this physical work."

The mountain forest knew that his little sister was very capable, especially after his mother became ill. It was as if his little sister had become a completely different person. She had grown up all of a sudden, but this only made his heart ache even more.

"What kind of manual labor is this? It's just pouring water, I can't just let my brother do all the work. That would be exhausting my brother. I can't bear to part with him; he's going to be the pillar of the family in the future."

Hearing that he was going to be the pillar of support, the mountain forest patted his chest.

"Of course, in the future, only big brother will raise you and mother. Little sister, you already worked very hard, so you don't need to worry about it. Just leave the elder brother here."

Shan Xing's heart ached even more when she looked at her small chest. What was a nine year old child? What was he doing? He was wearing a flowery skirt and walking in front of the house with a bat in his mouth?

"Sure, then I'll have to depend on you. It's just that you have to eat a full meal first before you can bear the heavy burden."

The mountain forest happily followed her sister into the house. However, she didn't sit at the table first. Instead, she moved closer to her mother's bed and took a look at her mother's complexion.

"Bro, it's time to eat."

Shan Xing's voice came from the kitchen. Just as Shan Shan was about to speak to his mother, he called back to the kitchen.

"Shan Xing, let me handle this. Don't hurt me. Let me have a chat with mom first."

But before he could say anything, Shan Xing's voice came from the door.

"I'll be more careful. You're so tired from the day, hurry up and eat and rest."

Shan Xing served the porridge in a big bowl. As she spoke, she stepped into the room. The forest hurriedly took the bowl and placed it on the table.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Didn't you say to wait for me to come back and cook the porridge? You don't need me to come back for a while. Besides, it would be tiring to throw some rice into the wok. For girls, their skin is the most delicate, you have to be careful. "

Shan Xing nodded obediently, indicating that she was obedient to her brother.

"I'll be careful in the future. Big brother should eat first. After working all afternoon, I should be hungry."

However, the forest waved her hand and let her eat first.

"Mom, are you feeling better today?"

The mountain forest wanted to talk to his mother first, or else his heart would always be a little unsettled.

"You're better now, you don't need to worry. Quickly sit down and eat with your sister."

When he saw that his mother wasn't weak like usual and had quite a bit of strength in her words, his heart felt at ease.

"Then I'll head over to eat. Mother, please rest first."

He helped his mother pull the thin blanket up to her chest, then he sat down at the round table and realized that his sister was not there.

"Mother has to eat first before being able to rest."

Shan Xing carried a small bowl of porridge from the kitchen to her mother's bed and started feeding her mother.

"Mom, I thought you had finished eating, so I came to accompany you."

He also came down from the table and sat beside his mother's bed, watching his sister feed her porridge.

As he watched his six year old sister carefully scoop up the congee and feed it to his mother while blowing on it to cool it, his mother, like a child, waited for the spoon to fill her mouth and carefully drink the porridge into her stomach, his heart felt unspeakably uncomfortable. His days really were difficult to bear, but luckily, he still had his mother and sister.

Shan Xingniang smiled as she listened. Soon, a bowl of porridge was in her stomach. Shan Xing and the two brothers were very happy, as their mother had a good appetite today.

The time after the meal passed quickly. The two siblings cleaned up the cooking pots and spoons, and the mountain forest brought up water from the well. They poured it into the big pot, set the fire, and then filled the big wooden tub with water.